Minnesota Bear Hunt Applications Open Apr. 2

Applications for this fall’s bear hunt will be accepted from Monday, April 2, through Friday, May 4, at any Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) license agent and online at www.mndnr.gov/buyalicense. They also are available at the DNR License Center in St. Paul or by phone at 888-665-4236.

A total of 6,000 licenses are available in 11 permit areas. This year’s bear hunt will run from Sunday, Sept. 1, to Sunday, Oct. 14.

Hunters selected in the annual lottery must purchase their licenses by Wednesday, Aug. 1, so licenses that aren’t purchased can be made available to other hunters. After this year’s Aug. 1 deadline, any eligible hunter may purchase any remaining licenses starting at noon, Monday, Aug. 6.

In 2011, hunters purchased 5,684 licenses by the deadline. Those hunters were chosen from a pool of 19,170 applicants for the available 7,050 permit area licenses. The remaining 1,336 permits were sold after the deadline passed. Hunters harvested a total of 2,131 bears.

Bear licenses cost $38 for residents and $200 for nonresidents. The bag limit is two bears in the no-quota area and one bear in all quota permit areas.